king of the ghosts prince of the damned
by the alphabet soup
Summary: If Nico was the child of the prophecy.


**Disclaimer: Don't own PJO.**

If Nico was the hero of the prophecy.

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i.

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He is a mere child, not even eleven, when the boy finds him and Bianca. His words are rushed so he cannot understand them (and he's too busy thinking about Mythomagic to care) but whatever he says seems to upset Bianca.

But they leave in the end. They are whisked to the land off the coast of New York and land themselves in a camp that claims to be magical. Suddenly, Nico discovers his game of Mythomagic might actually be a reality and he is borderline ecstatic.

Bianca is not.

She is concerned about him but he doesn't quite understand when she starts hanging around the group of girls who give him stink eyes when he approaches them. They are apparently the "Hunters of Artemis" or whatever that means. He doesn't really care because he's too busy learning how to fight with swords and shoot a bow and climb the lava wall.

Later she tells him she joined the Hunters of Artemis, and she likes being with them. He thinks he knows what she's talking about but his expression turns downcast when he learns she'll be away from him; travelling the world with her new "family". He feels positively hurt.

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ii.

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She takes a quest not long after she tells him she has joined the group. At first he is jealous because she gets to fight monsters while he is stuck at Camp Half-Blood, then that jealousy turns into worry. He asks the satyr Grover to take care of his sister on the quest which he agrees to quickly. The Zoe girl is going with them; Nico can't understand why Bianca likes her because she is always shouting and scorning.

He doesn't pretend to be lonely the day she leaves. The night feels longer without her - at least when they were residing in different cabins he knew she was at camp - and the snow feels colder. He decides that if he's claimed he might feel less lonely.

For now he just practices with sword fighting and prays she will be back soon.

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iii.

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The ringing in his ears wakes him up from his dream. It tears through the night's silence and he covers his ears in an attempt to muffle the noise. It sounds like a mix of static and the chime of a bell.

Then he hears a gasp of surprise that sounds exactly like Bianca.

When the sound stops, he crumples to the floor and shivers run through his body. Bianca would understand what was happening to him. She should be here to tell him everything was going to be fine, but she wasn't here and he had a sinking suspicion why.

* * *

When he falls asleep he dreams of a bleak, sorrowful river and the silhouette of a girl across it on top a boat.

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iv.

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They come back from the quest with two missing from their original number. He already knows this but he was hoping so desperately she was alive. He doesn't bother with Grover's protests because _a promise is a promise_ and he runs into the woods to escape this. He doesn't want to come back to this camp. This camp of lies and deceit and he feels so broken.

Perhaps he always was.

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v.

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Minos teaches him how to control his powers. He can now travel through the shadows and raise skeletons from the ground. He is still working on summoning ghosts, but he has to perfect it. Nothing can go wrong when he finally contacts her.

When he finally perfects the technique, he calls upon her spirit. He makes sure everything is perfect - he has the drink offerings, he has the food offerings, he chants the correct phrases in Ancient Greek precisely - but she does not appear. He howls in anger and screams out at the night sky. Why is this happening? He is everything correctly so _why won't she appear_?

He refuses to think he is the problem.

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vi.

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He doesn't forgive the satyr, but he doesn't understand why he travels with him, either. The daughter of Athena leads the four and she directs them to the Labyrinth. He finds the cyclops just a silly boy.

He thinks Bianca was wrong to join the Hunters. She was wrong to abandon him and she was so wrong to die. She would not have died had he been present. She would be alive and breathing and he would not be the wayward prince.

He may be a king of the ghosts, but he has achieved his title as prince of the damned in the process.

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vii.

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He hears Annabeth mutter something about a prophecy in her sleep. A Great Prophecy that foretells the coming of a child of the Big Three who will save them from Kronos. He might have exaggerated a tad bit, but he wanted to feel important.

But he isn't important. Not really. He is the wayward son of Hades who lost his life and his sister in such a short amount of time.

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viii.

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He forgives Grover while they watch Pan fade. He notices how the satyr whimpers for being so helpless to save him, and suddenly Nico understands. Grover had tried to save Bianca, but one cannot simply change the threads the Fates have spun.

The satyr is surprised at first, then he looks relieved.

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ix.

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When he comes back to camp they hate him. Not him necessarily, but what he stands for. He is the fallen angel who is just now returning to the heavens. He is the king of the ghosts which haunt at night. He is the prince of the damned and paves their roads of suffering. He is the son of the Underworld, the bastard child of death.

Hades doesn't even have a cabin. The camp does not want him. They do not accept him. Chiron offers him a home at the Big House but he turns it down. They would hate him even more because of the privilege, and he is so _so_ tired of the hate.

_Fine_, he thinks. _If they do not want me as a hero why should I shoulder the weight? _


End file.
